Arms agency to pick shipbuilder for homegrown destroyer through selective bidding

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Published: 22 Dec. 2025, 18:07 Updated: 22 Dec. 2025, 18:59

This image, provided by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, shows the envisioned design of what would be Korea's first homegrown destroyer. [HD HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES]

The state arms procurement agency plans to introduce a selective bidding process to pick a shipbuilder for the country's first homegrown advanced destroyer, officials said Monday.

The Defense Project Promotion Committee made the decision in a meeting held Monday afternoon, finalizing how it will pick the winner of the estimated 7 trillion-won ($5 billion) project to build six advanced destroyers, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The project had been in limbo amid a legal feud between shipbuilders Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, both of which had participated in designing the envisioned destroyer.

The arms agency plans to deliver the destroyers to the Navy for deployment by the end of 2032.

The envisioned 6,000-ton-class Aegis destroyers are expected to become the Navy's future strategic asset, equipped with weapons systems largely developed from homegrown technology.

Yonhap